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After a wonderful week in England, we woke up headed to the train station after a delicious breakfast at the hotel. We had a bit of time to kill, so Jason had a Bloody Mary (which was really a double shot of vodka mixed with Tabasco!) and I had a nice pint of cider. We took the train to Edinburg, and approximately 2 and a half hours later, we exited the station without a plan! Naturally, we decided to hit up a bar across the street (The Doric) while we sorted out some details.

Our tour books weren't really cutting it, and the guides they had on hand behind the bar were even worse, so Jason left me to my own devices (and the heaviest beer EVER) to RUN around the city and find us a place to stay. About 30 minutes later, he showed up out of breath and thirsty, so we had one more pint and then hopped into a cab and headed to the Grassmarket Hotel...the second smallest hotel we stayed in: I had to stand in the shower and on the toilet to take these pictures of the bathroom:)In order fo…

You will hear no complaints from me about this crazy "winter" weather we've been having in NC. I'm all about playing outside sans jackets in mid-January! And we are so lucky to have such wonderful friends who come visit on a random Monday!! Cutest boots EVER!What are you looking at?!Happy GirlFurry baby

From our first pub to the hotel in Cheltenham, everyone who asked us about our plans and where we were heading responded in kind when we announced proudly that we were stopping in Newcastle for the night, "WHY?!" We were told that there was nothing to see in Newcastle and really no reason to visit the city. Thank goodness we didn't listen!

Some of Jason's family hails from Newcastle, so it was important to us to at least visit the area. We left Cheltenham via train after grabbing some breakfast at the station cafe. The train ride was about 4 hours and quite pleasant. We didn't know where we were staying that night, but as luck would have it, we were able to check into a great hotel right across the street from the station.

It was already starting to get dark, so we headed out quickly to check out the bridges, exactly what Newcastle is famous for. We found a great place called Eye on the Tyne and got the most delicious appetizers EVER!

We awoke at 7:30 the next morning and headed outside for a quick jog, but the weather had other plans. The rain forced us back inside, so we did a short workout in the room and then grabbed some breakfast in the hotel restaurant (where they served an amazing buffet complete with black pudding!). We packed our stuff and took a taxi to Paddington Station where we boarded a train for Cheltenham.

I thought this station was like something straight out of the movies, so I couldn't resist taking a picture
Train travel was great. We had plenty of space and were able to enjoy the ridiculous newspapers that are really more like gossip magazines. We arrived in Cheltenham and took a taxi to The Rising Sun hotel (a place we found the night prior on Expedia). We checked in and went for a run on some of the most ridiculous hills I've ever seen. Amazing view from the hotel lobby
After a quick shower, we changed and grabbed some lunch at the hotel. We asked around about walking to Winchcombe (so…

After a VERY busy first day, we stepped out into the slightly misty morning for a jog around Hyde Park. About 10 minutes into the run, we noticed some soldiers on horseback practicing formations...which reminded us that we were about to miss the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace! So we quickly headed back to the hotel to change and hopped into a taxi. We arrived about 10 minutes before it kicked off and fought through a crowd to get a good spot along the Palace gates. We were able to see most of the ceremony and get some pictures:

This is how you can tell the different units apart - different plumes in their covers and different button patterns along their red coats (which we couldn't see because of their jackets)
It was a great ceremony, and longer than we expected with a few songs played by the bagpipers and then more music played by another musical element, but a wonderful experience. Unfortunately, our time at Marine Barracks Washington made us somewhat critical of the…